Fourth Circuit Holds That Internal Government Documents Do Not Constitute A Public Disclosure

On February 3, 2015, United States ex rel. Wilson v. Graham Cnty. Soil & Water Conservation Dist., No. 13-2345, 2015 WL 427649, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 1663 (4th Cir. Feb. 3, 2015), the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court's public disclosure bar dismissal, holding that reports circulated only amongst government officials does not constitute a "public disclosure."

In the mid-1990s, the Graham County Soil & Water Conservation District ("SWCD") received federal funding as part of the Emergency Watershed Protection Program. Relator Karen Wilson, a former part-time secretary at the Graham County SWCD, voiced her concerns to the United States Department of Agriculture ("USDA") that her employer had misappropriated government funds through hiring contractors based on their willingness to provide a kickback of the profits, hiring ineligible salaried employees as "independent contractors," and stealing supplies procured through government funding. In